Talk Back debate on NFL players taking a knee

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Members of the San Francisco 49ers kneel during the national anthem as others stand during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Players need to find a better way to express views

Among other things, the NFL penalizes players for excessive celebrations, fines them for exercising their right not to speak at media sessions and prohibits them from wearing a patch memorializing five slain police officers. Yet it has discovered the First Amendment when it comes to players showing disdain for our country.

NFL players have a perennial problem with domestic abuse and participate in a sport in which they are literally killing each other through the degenerative disease resulting from repeated head trauma. Yet the actions of a few rogue cops have made them so disgusted with our nation that they sit, kneel or fail to show up for our anthem.

They claim to still honor and respect our military. Perhaps. But if they can’t even manage to stand for the anthem while service men and women are putting their lives at risk every day for an imperfect country, then they have lost me. I’m done with the NFL until its players can find a better way to express their views.

Jim RathLafayette

We’re off the plantation, Mr. President

The president does not seem to be really concerned about people wearing white sheets, burning torches, displaying swastikas, waving Confederate flags and, more recently, the random killing of black men by white men without a word said. Yet he wants to call NFL primarily black players who pay millions of dollars in taxes, contribute millions to charity and are pillars in the community “sons of bitches,” who need to be fired for not being obedient.

Someone should remind the master that we are no longer on the plantation.

Otis SegersOakland

Demonstration should not be in workplace

Businesses hire people to provide goods and/or services for a fee. Most people have strong opinions about politics and to bring those into a workplace causes hard feelings, division, friction and disrupts that workplace. It is not fair to the work force or to the owners. What you do in your free time is your business. What you inflict on others at work is another question.

The NFL is a good example. Now you have players having to stand against players, the owners are caught between loyalty to their players and their paying customers, ticket holders are insulted.
People go to athletic games to be entertained, not participate in political squabbles. If the players really have a cause, they should do something constructive: Write big checks to support their cause, go into neighborhoods and give their time, join the police force, vote, volunteer for jury duty, etc. Taking a knee is a cowardly and easy way to feel virtuous.

Mae C. LewisOrinda

More power to the protesting players

The First Amendment makes this country unique among the 195 countries on the globe. Every time someone’s free speech makes us stop and think, we should stand and applaud.

Racism is so entangled in the DNA of this country that President Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News find it easy to convince people that a respectful expression of racial concern is un-American. Don’t be fooled. Colin Kaepernick was calling attention to the oppression of people of color and the unconstitutional killing of blacks by police. NFL owners thought they could censor his message by keeping Kap off the field. Thanks to Trump’s lies about the protest, thoughtful athletes have now decided they need to show their support. More power to them.

Michael MooreWalnut Creek

NFL players are disrespectful

I do not support them. It is sickening and disrespectful. Plus, I am not paying all that money to attend any such event so that I can be subjected to someone else’s political views. If they want to protest, they should do so on their own time. In fact, if any were really serious, they could donate their game-day salary to their cause; or take out an ad in the newspaper or radio. Most of them only participate in their community as a marketing tool if they are required to do so by their agent or team.

I would appreciate it if these athletes would advertise beforehand that they plan to politicize an event. That way I can boycott it. I will not attend any sporting event at any level ever again if I know they plan to insult me and the USA.

David E. SmithSan Ramon

Don’t need mix of divisive politics and sports

I don’t need, and do not want, a side-dish of divisive politics served with my entree of sports enthusiasm. And if the players and the broadcasters insist on cramming it down our throats anyway, I will lose interest in their game.

Brooks AlexanderRodeo

Players honor this country with protests

I fully and gratefully support athletes taking a knee during our national anthem. Racism is the defining, killing blight on this country and it is important to call attention to its ramifications however and whenever we can.

Protesting is not meant to be a comfortable endeavor. These athletes are brave and truly honor our country by calling attention to this very grave problem. It seems that the folks who have directly borne the brunt of racism in this country are the ones taking the heat for protesting it, and that’s a very sad commentary on all of us.

I read about our own Bruce Maxwell’s experience as a 10-year-old being threatened with hanging for having the temerity of playing on the winning team at a baseball game in Alabama. His experiences and those of all other African-Americans should cause all of us to take this battle to heart as patriotic Americans and support all who take whatever public stance they choose to take to protest.

Carol ThorntonBerkeley

There is a time and place for everything

I enjoy football and when I watch football, I want it to be football, not a platform for political discourse. If I wanted that, I would go to another station as there are plenty of stations that provide political opinion on Sunday morning.

Since the NFL has now become a hybrid of a sport and political discourse, I will no longer watch football on Sunday. I will get my football fix on Saturday. Baseball will become my Sunday sports entertainment for the next month or so. After that, basketball starts. The NFL is not the only game in town.

There is a time and place for everything. On this forum, have at it with politics. Politics is mainly negative and I feel I need a place to get away from it. Sports is a great positive outlet.

My employer has told employees to keep political discussion out of the workplace. I request the NFL to do the same.

James TallaridaBrentwood

Insult to those who fought, died for this country

I do not support athletes taking a knee during the national anthem. In doing so, they are insulting not only the symbolism of what our country represents, but all the Americans who have fought and died to try to make the world a better place.

Their actions also seem to be implying that there is a national policy of discrimination toward blacks. There is no such policy. If they have a complaint against a specific city or police department etc., they should organize a protest against those entities, not toward the citizens of this country who have never discriminated against anyone.

Dave MorseWalnut Creek

Difference between unity and disrespect

There is a vast difference between unity (arm in arm) and disrespect (kneeling). It’s a pity players can’t tell the difference.

Bob CummingsBrentwood

So it’s OK to wave the Confederate flag?

How ironic it is that those who condemn athletes for not standing during the national anthem as being unpatriotic and disrespectful of the military are, for the most part, the same people who dismiss the flying of the Confederate battle flag as a mere exercise of free speech.

It is hard to imagine anything more unpatriotic or disrespectful of the United States military than celebrating, and/or displaying publicly, a banner under which slavery-defending minions attacked, shot and killed American soldiers who were fighting for freedom. Yet, even given such disrespect and lack of patriotism, I somehow doubt that our president could muster the courage to stand in front of a crowd in Huntsville, Alabama and say that any SOB who waves a Confederate flag should be thrown out and fired.

David TalleyBerkeley

Players should visit a VA medical facility

Why don’t the overpaid and overprivileged Bay Area pro players take time to go and visit the residents at Building 90 at the Livermore VA Medical facility, or any other VA hospital. I am sure they can show and tell you what “taking a knee” meant to them.

Our vets who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are all represented in this 90-bed building. They took a knee while kneeling by their wounded friend, trying to stem the bleeding. They took a knee while crawling on their hands and knees in enemy territory and, finally, took a knee praying for their brothers in arms who did not return. They took a knee so that football players have the freedom to disrespect the symbol of our great country.

Jane ParishDanville

What is the message they are sending?

If we knew specifically what they were protesting, maybe we could answer:

Why is the national anthem being played?

I absolutely support everyone’s freedom of expression or non expression even if it differs from my personal opinion. If a person is compelled by rule, pressure, threat or law to stand, salute, sing or pledge to a symbol does that action show real respect?

Also, why is the national anthem played at every routine sporting event from the pros all the way down to youth events. The contestants are not representing the nation in international competitions, instead playing for their city, school or locale.

Sports, particularly at the professional level, is entertainment, not unlike going to the movies. We don’t play the national anthem before every showing at the theater. Playing it at routine daily sporting events diminishes it and makes it a mundane ritual.

Nick FigeiraSan Lorenzo

Message to the Kaepernicks of the world

To the Colin Kaepernicks of the world who display such lack of respect for this country and the flag it represents, may I use this borrowed phrase to emphasize an important point: “Those who would disrespect our flag have never been handed a folded one.”

Kathy ChaseLivermore

Players should try living in Sudan or Nigeria

I certainly do not support athletes refusing to stand for our national anthem. I consider them spoiled, overpaid and ungrateful to the country which has given them so much. If they suddenly awoke tomorrow morning in Sudan or Nigeria, for instance, I wonder if they would miss this country, flawed though it may be.

June ChambersClayton

What if they protested many causes?

Count me among those who view the national anthem as a solemn moment to show respect for our country’s brave servicemen, so many of whom died defending that flag.

Imagine if you will, PETA, right-to-lifers, anti-war supporters etc., all with an ax to grind, choosing to protest during this moment. The validity of any cause can be enhanced by the methodology of protest. This doesn’t cut it for me. In fact, it has the opposite effect.

Michael D. ScottWalnut Creek

Maybe it’s the president who is not showing respect

Our president still does not get it — words do hurt.

President Donald Trump has attacked football players for not standing during the national anthem and he has gone so far as to say fire those SOB’s for showing a lack of respect not only to our flag but to those who are serving or have served in the military.

In case no one knows, Trump got three deferments so he wouldn’t have to serve in the military during Vietnam. Now who is showing a lack of respect?

Maryann SheridanWalnut Creek

Great to have freedom of expression

This ghastly country of ours, so filled with hate, prejudice and bigotry somehow tolerates displays of dissent, verbal and otherwise.

Though it may legally be the case that employers (owners of sports leagues and teams) have the right to restrict the behavior of their employees (e.g. forbidding players kneeling during the national anthem and punishing over-celebrating in the end zone), nevertheless, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that everyone, rich and poor alike has the unrestricted right of dissent.

The football and basketball players and organizations have their right to disrespect our flag and national anthem and I and many others have our right to voice our disgust and revulsion with that behavior.

They will continue to kneel and I will continue to never watch their games again. It’s as simple as that.

Don’t we live in a great country where we all have the freedom and privilege to express our points of view, some by kneeling and others with our pocketbooks?

Mark BarnesMartinez

Players should be thankful for their prosperity

Professional athletes who refuse to honor the national anthem and the flag should instead be on both knees. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, they should thank God for the brave men and women who defend this nation and who provided them with the opportunity to be the successful and wealthy Americans they are.

Instead of using their prominence to air grievances based on race, they use it to disrespect this nation and our military men and women, including the approximately 620,000 Union soldiers, most of them white, who fought and died in the Civil War to secure their freedom. Without such sacrifices, the athletes, representing themselves as unlikely symbols of oppressed minorities, would be suffering the racial injustice of the pre-Civil War days.

Today, those antipathetic, arrogant, petulant and unpatriotic athletes enjoy some of the greatest freedom and prosperity this world has ever known. But, then, some people are never happy. Or thankful.

Jeff MorrisBrentwood

Does kneeling in a church insult God?

The king of political incorrectness, the president, demands a politically correct response to the national anthem. He claims kneeling to be an insult to the flag. Why? Does kneeling in a church insult God? Can’t athletes, or any of us, pray for a better country while the national anthem is played? Only a tyrant would demand the loss of employment for decrying the injustices of the Reich.

Kirk EsslerRichmond

Good time for all Americans to serve

This would be a good time to start requiring all Americans to do two years of national service after finishing their highest form of education. For men, that would be two years in the armed forces including a tough boot camp and the rest in a combat ready position. No deferments. No exceptions.

After that, those who are well-qualified athletes could join the teams that want them and start their pro careers. I’ll bet that would give them a lot more incentive to stand up and salute the flag and our national anthem.

Darrell BennerFremont

We must resolve our differences

I find it sadly ironic that some people, including our president, are more concerned about people kneeling for the national anthem than they are about what the kneeling is about — police brutality and minority discrimination. Perhaps they think this does not exist, which is equally sad, or they have forgotten that men and women died to give people the right to peacefully demonstrate their grievances.

Whether one chooses to stand, kneel or lock arms during the anthem does not make one or the other more patriotic. They are all demonstrating their patriotism in their own way. My hope and prayer is that by working together to resolve our differences, we will truly keep America great.

Jim SartorBay Point

NFL can make rules to stop demonstrations

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”

We know that freedom of speech does not permit the right to shout fire in a crowded theater. Nor does freedom of speech permit professional performers, such as football players, etc., the right to speak, dress or act for any reason they choose however worthy it may be.

NFL teams are private businesses, as are the NBA, MLB, etc. So are newspapers, TV and radio stations, as well as auto plants and retail outlets. These businesses can legitimately make and enforce rules about employee speech, dress or conduct on when business: at the office, at conferences or public presentations of the business.

A professional football or basketball game, etc., is a business presentation paid for by the customers of the business. Surely the business has a legitimate right and a responsibility to instruct its employees how to dress, speak and act in a public presentation to its customers.

Mike DeNunzioWalnut Creek

Standing doesn’t make you a patriot

Standing for the national anthem doesn’t make someone a patriot any more than donning officially licensed sportswear turns a person into an athlete.

Initially I was skeptical, curious if Kaepernick’s demonstration was a sincere effort to shed light on society’s problems, or, simply nothing more than grandstanding.

Come autumn 2017, it is conceivable that we may never again see Kaepernick as a professional athlete, kneel (let alone, stand) for the national anthem. His legacy will survive, however, as evidenced by many athletes and owners who are following his lead whether by kneeling, locking arms and/or engaging in thoughtful dialogue. Unfortunately, such behavior has led to the president referring to these players as SOBs.

Regardless of affiliation, it is crucial that those with differing views can discuss sensitive topics thoughtfully and respectfully, without resorting to insults and name calling. Such an approach would be patriotic and a welcome change from the vitriolic environment in which we find ourselves.

Eric GrantConcord

Trump has a good reason to be upset

Those who are outraged at President Donald Trump’s supposedly racist attack on NFL players and Steph Curry should remember who made the national anthem and Republican perspectives and policies a racial issue to begin with. It was Colin Kaepernick, Curry and other African-American athletes who (following other progressives) constantly accuse President Trump and other Republicans of being racists, refusing even to come to the White House for championship celebrations.

Our president is right to be upset about this! Many of us (including more and more African-Americans) detest that self-righteous “progressives” inject politics into everything and play the race-card at every turn. President Trump was a successful New York City businessman. No one considered him a racist until he decided to run for president. He could never have succeeded in this most cosmopolitan of cities if he had been.

Labeling someone a racist without unmistakable proof is extremely unfair and destructive. But that self-righteous progressives constantly do this to all who disagree with their perspectives and policies is truly the chief threat to the future of America.

Christopher AndrusDublin

NFL needs to find other protesting methods

NFL management has created a de facto policy which allows for employee activism during the anthem. There are many issues other than Black Lives Matter that people are passionate about: abortion, gun control, global warming, the genocide of the Native Americans, etc. What if Latin American baseball players who make up more than 25 percent of the MLB turned their backs on the flag to protest immigration policy?

The NFL should help their members to look for other methods to voice their rightful opinions and conduct the national anthem in a manner that does not alienate large numbers of their patrons. If not, they should discontinue the pregame honoring of the Stars and Stripes and replace it with something less volatile like a fight song and raising of your team banner.

Walter MuellerSan Lorenzo

This is a non-issue with North Korean threat

I don’t know why anyone is concerned about the NFL and who’s taking a knee for the national anthem right now. It will all be a moot point when, thanks to President Donald Trump, we’re all blown to smithereens by North Korea.

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